As illustrated by Decibel’s Top 40 earlier today, ’tis the season for list giving. As far as the non-metal kind go (though they did include the Dillinger Escape Plan), NME wisely included Salem’s King Night and Zola Jesus’s Stridulum II in their Top 10. I also appreciate the inclusion of Swans, Glasser, Perfume Genius, and Crystal Castles. Still, as it often goes with these things, there’s plenty of head scratching. Also, as a rule, just because NME thinks you’re Cool, doesn’t mean they love your record.

While there’s tons here I both agree and disagree with (the nature of lists and opinions etc), I am quite glad to see These New Puritans’ Hidden topping the list. I don’t think it’s gotten the attention it deserves, and hopefully more people will pick it up as a result.

Although I don’t agree on them being on the top position, I really think they deserve to have a position in at least one of these yearly lists (I don’t think they’ll be mentioned in many more, if at all). It seems like they were pretty much -unfairly- ignored this year. Great, courageous -if at times excessive- album.

I can not believe Joanna Newsom’s “Have one on me” polled so low. ‘Have one on me’ was a hugely ambitious project and It should have easiily made the top ten.
Its about the most stunning oversight in the history of the The NME of which i was a religious reader in the eighties..

Surprisingly I’m not as annoyed by their list as much as I expected to be. I think the Brits taste in indie this year shows a lot of love for good new bands that aren’t just about hype. Robyn’s Body Talk (complete) should have made the list and not just Part 1, though.

I thought you were being very clear. And then I thought Comehomenow was saying you should have added 3 to your list of unlistenable albums, but that doesn’t quite make sense, so I think you’re correct–he misunderstood you and thought you considered “Teen Dream” one of the albums that was unlistenable.

I hate the term “Top 10″ or however many because it sounds like it’s bestowing an air of objectivity. So I’ll list my ten favorite, or the ten albums I enjoyed listening to the most, with the caveat that there are only so many hours in a day and I can’t listen to everything:

There were at least 15-20 more albums that could have made my list in any other year, including a bunch that have been mentioned by others on this thread (Beach House, Avi Buffalo, LCD, Los Campesinos!, the National, Surfer Blood, Waaves, the Posies, etc.).

I agree with your top pick. I’m afraid Mr. Andronicus is going to get no love this year. Fortunetly when their next album comes out (though it won’t be as good) it will get lots of love and you’ll see in everyone’s review a snippet of why they loved the monitor and how they thought it was one of 2010’s best albums.

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